


Patton's Day Off

by Plant_Queen



Category: Fablehaven Series - Brandon Mull
Genre: F/M, Fluff, literally all fluff, they are married and adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-28 23:16:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8466745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Plant_Queen/pseuds/Plant_Queen
Summary: Patton works to hard and Lena has had enough of it.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fairykam](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=fairykam).



> I cannot believe that I have neglected my - well, probably everyone's - favorite old-timey couple. Also don't try to convince me that Patton wouldn't work himself too hard. Self-care is good, which Lena knows and Patton needs to learn

Patton blearily rubbed at his eyes. It was late, and he knew it, but he really had to finish these design plans for the protective domes he wanted to put around Fablehaven. He stared down at the page, willing the letters and words he saw there to coalesce into something meaningful. They stubbornly refused, and to his sleep-weary brain, it seemed like those words were written in Latin. But Patton was fluent in Latin, so he should understand them, right? Or was he fluent in Greek? He was too tired to remember.

“Darling, are you still up?” A sleepy voice asked Patton. He startled, but then remembered he had a wife.

“Sorry, Lena, did I wake you with the light? I can go somewhere else.” Patton started gathering his things, cursing himself for thoughtlessly waking Lena.

“You didn’t wake me, Patton,” she said with a small smile. “But you really should get some rest.”

“I know, angel, but I really need to review these plans for those domes. And I have this trip coming up I need to plan for, and -”

Lena cut him off with a frown. “Patton,” her tone was admonishing, “when was the last time you got a decent night’s rest?”

“I got some sleep two nights ago,” he tried, but the excuse sounded weak to his ears.

“I remember. And that was not a decent night’s rest. You came to bed and got up three hours later for something you deemed ‘critically important to Fablehaven.’”

“Well, it was!”

“Not as important as you are,” Lena sighed, slipping out of bed to come over to where Patton was sitting at his desk. Whatever excuse he was going to conjure up died on his tongue. “You’re running yourself ragged, and I won’t stand for it any longer. Fablehaven is important, yes, but your health is more important.”

“Alright, I’ll come to bed. Let me just brush my teeth.”

“I wasn’t finished. I’m glad you’re going to sleep, even if it is late. But you’ve been working yourself sun-up to past midnight. You need a break. A day off.”

“I can’t! The preserve -”

“Will run itself just fine if you take one ‘me day,’ and don’t you dare contradict me on this, Patton Burgess.” Lena pinned him to the spot with a glare, and Patton snapped his mouth shut, far too tired to try arguing with his spit-fire wife. “Tomorrow, you are going to take a day off, and I’m going to be there to make sure you don’t sneak off to try working on some project or another. Now, come to bed.”

Patton, still bone-tired, simply nodded and went through the motions of his night time ritual. Through it all, Lena sat up, staring at him with those lovely, dark eyes he had fallen for. She was evidently trying to make sure he didn’t attempt to finish more work while she slept. Patton laid down on the bed next to her, grumbling vaguely about her “day-off” idea. 

“Shhh, shhh. Sleep,” Lena said, rubbing Patton’s back in soothing circles. Patton tried to keep himself awake so he could get up and review his trip itinerary once his wife fell asleep, but the combination of the soft bed, his wife massaging his back, and the warm sheets soon lulled Patton into a deep sleep.

 

***

 

The next morning, Patton woke up with a gasp. The sun was shining through the windows, and Lena was in the bathroom humming while she got ready for the day. 

_ What time is it?  _ Patton thought, still groggy after having just woke up.  _ Lena never gets up before me. _ A glance at the clock revealed that it was nearly 9:30, long after Patton’s normal wake-up call of 6 am sharp.  _ My alarm didn’t go off! My whole schedule is going to be all messed up. _

Patton immediately jumped out of bed and ran to put on some clothes. He barrelled into the bathroom.

“Oh good, you’re up,” Lena said, still brushing her hair. “I was thinking that today we could start with -”

Patton cut her off, practically yelling, “My alarm didn’t go off! I’m going to have to push

everything back by a couple hours. This is a disaster!”

“Darling,” Lena said with quiet amusement, “did you forget our talk last night?”

“What do you mean? What talk?”

Lena laughed. “I mean the talk where I told you that you were going to have a day off. I

turned off your alarm, to let you sleep in. And as I was saying, I have some ideas of things we can do today.”

As Lena spoke, Patton started to recall the conversation from the night before. Truth be told, he was so tired that things were pretty muddled, but he did vaguely remember agreeing to a day off.

“Now,” Lena continued, “I already called and canceled your appointments. I also took the liberty of telling the grounds-keepers and the other preserve managers what to do today without you. So,” she turned to him, clapping her hands together, “it’ll just be us! I was thinking that we could start off with a walk, but I figured that might actually be better for when the stars come out. However, I am open to suggestions.”

Lena looked at Patton expectantly. He racked his brain, trying to think of something to do. He felt the need to work, but by now he knew better than to try and contradict his wife when she was set on a warpath. 

“I guess,” he started slowly, “we could do something in the gardens? I believe we just bought a new chess set that we could play on.”

“Chess sounds like a great idea!” 

Lena and Patton, after he got dressed, made their way down to the gardens. En route, Patton picked up the chess set from where it had been stored in the hall closet. The traditional chess pieces had been reworked into creatures from the fairy kingdom. The pawns were made of glowing fairies, the bishops were dryads, the rooks were lammasu, the knights were - predictably - rearing unicorns, and the king and queen were renditions of the fairy king and queen. The whole set was enchanted to give off a soft glowing light. Lena cooed over the intricate carvings when she saw them.

After five games, the pair decided to call it quits. Lena was doing an impression of her sisters in the pond, and Patton was laughing so hard that he tipped the board over on accident. Well, he would claim it was an accident, but Lena maintained it was because he was losing for the third time in a row. 

“What do you want to do now?” Lena asked.

Patton thought for a beat, before allowing a grin to spread over his face. “Races.”

Lena smirked, “You’re going down, old man!”

The pair could be seen, then, zipping through the yard, laughing their heads off. Patton beat Lena in the longer races, obviously having the longer legs to pass her by. Lena pouted that it wasn’t fair, but she gloated endlessly when she won the shorter sprints. They also had races to find the prettiest flower (Patton maintained that the most beautiful flower was Lena, causing her to blush profusely) and to eat the most angel food cake (Lena did, by a lot). 

Breathless from laughing, and pouting from latest defeat. Patton turned to his wife with a mischievous glint in his eye. “I think I know what I want to do next, my angel!”

“I know that look,” Lena said, backing away. “Don’t you -”

Cutting her off, Patton leapt forward and began tickling her mercilessly. His fingers scattered across her body, drawing forth giggling until Lena was begging him to stop.

Lena sat up, giving him a smirk of her own. “Turnabout is fair play, isn’t it?” Patton didn’t have time to brace himself before Lena leapt at him and began tickling him as well. Patton roared with laughter until his belly ached. 

“Uncle! Uncle!” he cried. Lena eased up, sitting back on her heels and giving him an appraising smile. Patton gave her 30 seconds before he launched back at her.

“Oh no you don’t!” Lena cried, getting up and racing away. And thus, several hours were spent with the couple chasing each other and tickling the other into submission. When Patton and Lena’s lungs felt like they were on fire and that they had probably split a rib from laughing so hard, they fell back onto the sweet grass in the garden and watched the clouds.

They talked softly about everything and nothing. It was only when Patton’s stomach began growling loudly did they realize how late it was getting. They got up together and went to have dinner. Without the press of work on them, Patton and Lena talked and laughed some more. 

It was somewhere during dessert that Patton realized Lena had been right. He really did need the day off. Before, he had been plodding through the motions, the fire of his passion lost in the mundane work of running the preserve. He loved Fablehaven, but it was nice to have a day where he didn’t have to think about giant wars or centaur squabbles or the satyrs pranks or any of the thousand other problems.  And truthfully, Patton couldn’t remember when and Lena had last talked or laughed this much. Simply being with her, even if they weren’t doing anything special, was rejuvenating. 

After dinner, Patton and Lena went to the gazebo and the pond. They took a walk around the pond itself. They ignored the taunts of Lena’s sisters, and they talked and cuddled on one of the many benches on the white-washed boardwalk. Patton pointed out his favorite constellation, which was Hercules, and Lena, who loved Sagittarius. 

For a long time, the couple was simply content to cuddle beneath the stars. Eventually, even the warm summer eve began to chill, and they were forced to head back to their home. Even though the sky had long since darkened, it was still much earlier than when Patton usually went to bed. After finishing their night time routine, Patton and Lena climbed into bed and promptly fell asleep, worn out from their long day of having fun.

The next morning, Patton woke with a renewed vigor. He tied up many of the loose ends and even managed to get ahead on some of his more ambitious projects. As always, Lena was right, Patton really did need a day off. 

 


End file.
